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Click Here To Infect Your PC!
Email me for FREE viruses writes "Just how many people would click an ad saying "Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!"? According to the security researcher who ran that very ad on Google for 6 months, 0.16% (409 of 259,723) would click on it. 98% of those people were running Windows. The Google Adwords campaign cost $23 in total, which works out to $0.06 per infection had the site actually been malicious."
Then went and clicked on the link in the article? :P
to tech professionals, that users need clue distributed by bat
Blah blah sig blah blah blah irony blah blah
The sad thing is that using something more enticing like "Free boobs this way" would send millions of clueless Joe Windowses your way... All ripe for the picking.
.: Max Romantschuk
At a click rate of 0,16% - about one in 600 - I have to wonder if not a fairly large portion is simple click errors. You intend to click on some other link nearby on the page but by mistake click that one instead. There's several kind of interaction slips just like that that we do in other circumstances after all.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
It's news that at least 0.16% of people are idiots? Actually I'm shocked the number was this low. This is actually good news.
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
Not exactly.
$0.06 per infection attempt, which is obviously not the same thing.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
At first I thought the same thing, just random misclicks. But then it hit me, there are a large number of users on the internet that don't have the know-how to install a virus on a computer of someone they hate, like an uppity coworker.
Imagine a bussiness model that would allow anyone to simply 1-click and install a virus (not a feature, those are patentable). Revenue would be generated with advertisments downloaded by the trojan, that would popup at random times on the victims computer. In essence, the victim would have to pay for the service. Brilliant!
And of that tiny percentage how many were Windows users taking the fairly safe bet that the ad didn't do what it said?
The comments give the browser stats:
335 - some version of IE
52 - Some version of Firefox
5 - other
That gives Firefox a 15% share.
Tim.
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = -@B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.
Hell, if I saw that link I'd click on it for sure. Well, I might drop to Cygwin and use lynx "just in case", but there's no way I'd not investigate such a link.
0.16%? I'd have guessed far more would click.
/. effect.
Next time call it "hot chicks with huge tits want to give you some love virus". I predict a
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I once explained that browser security is almost entirely determined by the user. This proves it. I wouldn't trust that 0.16% with a pocket calculator, let alone a computer!
You can't write code or design software that will secure "stupid." Firefox and Linux are certainly easier to secure, and they have a better security model, but they aren't idiot proof.
If those folks were using an abacus, they'd probably get their head stuck in it! <G>
--
Toro
i was reading that more as "no, that was not linux users clicking the link for fun". i mean, i would click on such a link ;)
Rich
Last time I ran a Google Adwords campaign, they'd drop your advert if you get less than a threshold clickthrough rate. I think it was 0.5%. It was certainly higher than 0.16%. So how did they do this? Have Google dropped that restriction?
for not RTFA'ing. Being a true /.er, here's my opinion anyway:
Microsoft sucks. Users are idiots.
Pavlov wouldn't be so famous if he'd used a can opener instead of a bell.
If you had a hardened system first then porn wouldn't be as useful.
the more they over-think the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the pipe
Or how many people thought ' it cant happen to me, as im protected ', but were still curious what the page was about.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Would any aggressive cache pre-fetch engines follow links like this?
Looks like we have a member of the 0.16% here on /.
$12.50 x 4 = $50
My good friend once joked that 95% of users would double click an icon named "ClickMe.EXE", without much thought at all.
the other 5 percent would right click and select open.
Free boobies for all!
Cute booby chicks for your delectation! aff
en.wikipedia.org
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Was this story really submitted by Gates himself?
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
Virus scanners create a false sense of security.
.exes from "FREE!!!!!!!!!" sites, use Internet Explorer, etc.
<user> I have Norton. My computer is now immune to all viruses.
(one week later)
<user> I have a virus, can you fix it?
I've seen people many times think that because they had Norton or McAfee, that they could do whatever they want without having to worry about getting a virus and act reckless. Open every attachment they get in email, downloading and running random
"The Federal Reserve is a fraudulent system."--Lew Rockwell
End The FED. -
He comes into work one day and you can tell by looking at him that he's pissed. He goes into the break room to get ready for the shift so I go back there and ask him what's wrong.
He says, "I'm need a new ****ing computer."
I ask why...
"because the one I have now is too slow. I can't use the web because I get hundreds of popups."
I tell him that's a pretty easy thing to fix and off to burn a CD and write up some directions for him.
He tells me that won't work... again, I ask why.
"Because I'm ****ing sick of Microsoft."
I tell him I totally understand that, but that his problem with the pop-ups is pretty easy to fix.
He says, "No, it's not. I click on all the Windows that ask me if I want to remove the viruses from my computer and they are always charging me $20-$40 per virus. I spent almost $400 last week!"
Another computer savvy employee had joined the conversation by this point and we both looked at each other in complete disbelief. The guy wasn't joking...
sig.
And then, if and only if it looks safe, you can use wget http://somesite.someisp.cc/some/long/filename.ext to download it for investigation.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
Oh no, that's much too complex. I just click on the little blue "E". Works every time.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!